MTG Arena Rank System Explained [Latest patch]

Time for competition

What is the ranking system?

There is an abundance of different play modes in MTG Arena. The standard Play mode pits you against other players of similar skill for quick Bo1 games of constructed magic, it also takes your deck structure into consideration when matching you with opponents so that new players with simple decks don’t have to play against fully fledged top-meta decks and can still have fun.

Constructed (Standard, Traditional Standard, Traditional Historic) events let you play for randomized card and gold rewards with a small gold or gem signing fee. Then, there are ranked modes (Standard Ranked, Traditional Standard Ranked and Ranked Draft), which match you with players of similar skill and track your rank as you play.

The ranking system is divided into Constructed Rank (Standard and Traditional Standard play modes) and Limited Rank (Ranked Draft play mode), each bringing you rewards according to your highest achieved rank at the end of the season.

What are the different ranks?

There are six different ranks in MTG Arena:

• Bronze
• Silver
• Gold
• Platinum
• Diamond
• Mythic

They are all divided into subdivisions which are better known as Tiers. Each rank up to diamond consists of four tiers, Tier 4 being the lowest and Tier 1 being the highest.

Mythic rank is not divided into tiers, but rather shows you which percentage of the top players in this rank you are. The top 1000 players in Mythic are shown their rank (#1 - #1000).

Get ready! Set! Charge!

How to climb ranks?

You rank up by winning games in ranked play modes. Each tier of ranked requires you to gain a certain number of steps before you rank up to the next tier. Each win gains you steps towards your promotion and each game loss loses you a step.

Once you achieve a certain rank in a season, you can’t de-rank to the previous tier during that same season – this means that you will get the rewards for the highest rank achieved during a season.

What are seasons and what are the rewards?

Ranked rewards are given to players who participate in ranked games during a season of ranked play. A season is usually a month long so there are 12 seasons each year. At the end of the season, you get the rewards based on your highest achieved rank during that season. The rewards are structured like this:

• Bronze: 1 pack
• Silver: 1 pack + 500 gold
• Gold: 2 packs + 1000 gold + 1 Card Style
• Platinum: 3 packs + 1000 gold + 2 Card Styles
• Diamond: 4 packs + 1000 gold + 2 Card Styles
• Mythic: 5 packs + 1000 gold + 2 Card Styles

Ranked rewards

When a season ends, a new one starts and you are placed into a new rank according to your previous season’s rank like this:  Mythic players will be placed into Gold Tier 1 at the start of a new season, Diamond players will be placed into Gold Tier 2 and 3, Platinum players will be placed into Gold Tier 3 to Silver Tier 1, Gold players will be placed into Silver Tier 2 to Bronze Tier 1, Silver players will be placed into Bronze Tiers 2 and 3, while Bronze players will be placed into Bronze Tiers 3 and 4. This ensures that each new season starts with a new climb for all players, and evenly distributes them through the ranks.

The Mythic rank has no tiers, how does it work then?

Your rank from bronze to diamond is determined by different tiers, which also match you up with similarly ranked players to ensure balanced play. When you finally get to mythic, this is replaced by a hidden MMR (Match making rank) which checks your skills and strengths and gives you a rating based on that. To make this rating, WotC used the Glicko rating system which is an improved version of the Elo rating system, which was originally used to determine ranks in competitive chess. There are three factors used to determine your individual rating deviation (RD), which measures the accuracy of your rating. You can read more about the complex Glicko rating system here: http://www.glicko.net/glicko/glicko2.pdf

In essence, the system’s formulas are used to determine your rating at the end of a match, which is then used to determine your rating at the beginning of the next match and so on. This ensures that you are matched with opponents of the same skill and is also used to determine the best players in the game.